Whispers of the Dead sf-15

by Peter Tremayne

  Fidelma raised an eyebrow in surprise at her anger.

  “You have to explain yourself.”

  “We agreed to the fosterage but we found that the child was wayward and undisciplined. My own child Faife revealed to me that the boy was stealing eggs from my own kitchen. Later I discovered that he had been stealing honey from our neighbor’s hives. I told my husband and said that the boy should be returned to Fécho or disciplined severely.”

  Fécho was on his feet.

  “My boy was not a thief. This is a lie.”

  “It was no lie!” returned Dublemna with equal vehemence.

  “The reason why I tell it is to show that if ever there was neglect of the child, it was not our neglect. We should have been warned of the child’s behavior by its parents.”

  The hubbub of anger and insults now rose between the two families and Brother Corbb had his work cut out to bring them to order again.

  “Any further outbursts such as that will require everyone to pay fines to this court,” Fidelma said quietly before turning to Fécho.

  “Had the boy ever been in trouble before he went into fosterage? On your word, now. Lies have a habit of catching up with you.”

  Fécho shook his head.

  “No one will tell you otherwise, Brehon,” he asserted with passion. “He was a good child. Ask anyone in Críonchoill except that woman,” he jerked his head to Colla’s wife.

  Fidelma turned to the woman, Dublemna.

  “Your child Faife told you that Enda had been stealing eggs? When was this?”

  “The day before the boy fell into the pool,” she asserted.

  “Were the eggs found?”

  “Faife had them. I found her with them. I asked what she was doing with them and she told that it was Enda who had stole them and she had taken them from him. We were going to discipline the boy. A good thrashing would have worked wonders.”

  “I am bound to point out,” Fidelma spoke sharply, “that the law of fosterage allows no corporal punishment. Fosterage should be without blemish, so the law says. And as for evidence, all I have heard is accusations and little proof.”

  Dublemna’s face was red with anger.

  “No proof? Then what of this for proof. .? Later that very same day our neighbor called by to say that during the last few weeks-from the time that Enda came to us as foster child-he had been missing honeycombs from his beehives. He made no accusations but wondered if we had been missing anything. After the boy died, when we were clearing out his things, we found a remnant of a honeycomb in the little box where he kept his personal possessions. Is that proof enough for you?”

  Brother Corbb commented dryly.

  “Crimes committed by the foster child are the responsibility of the foster father. Technically, if the boy was guilty of these thefts then Colla was facing a fine for the crime. .”

  Before Fidelma could rebuke Brother Corbb for ignoring court etiquette, Tassach, the physician, was on his feet, his face showing his excitement.

  “I have it! The poor boy was drowned so that Colla would not be held responsible for the theft of the honey from the neighbor’s hives! It was an attempt to hide his responsibility.”

  Fidelma raised a hand to stifle the angry murmuring that arose again.

  Brother Corbb had to thump the floor with his staff.

  “This second warning will be my last to you. The next time everyone here will pay a screpall apiece as a fine for contempt of this court. Let me remind you all of something,” Fidelma said grimly. “This is a court. At the moment, I am giving you maximum latitude in the presentation of evidence. I shall even give latitude when people speak out of turn,” her steely eyes glanced at Brother Corbb, who had the grace to blush. It was unseemly for a steward to comment on law in the presence of a Brehon sitting in judgment. “However, what is law outside this room is also law inside this room. Claims such as the one that you have just made, Tassach, cannot be tolerated unless you are prepared to offer proof. You are not allowed to make accusations without proof.”

  The physician was silent but his expression was one of anger.

  At her side, Brother Corbb coughed discreetly and leant forward and whispered in her ear.

  “Pardon, lady, I am uncertain how you intend to proceed, but so far I have heard no proof that the boy met his end by either neglect or foul play. Should not this matter be addressed?”

  Fidelma shot him an irritated glance.

  “I know my duty, Brother Corbb. We have not heard all the witnesses yet,” she snapped causing the steward to blink and step back.

  She turned back to the court, which had grown expectantly quiet.

  “In the circumstances, the court wishes to examine the three last people to see Enda alive. . bring the children Faife, Una and Maine into the court room.”

  There was a murmur of surprise. Fidelma felt Brother Corbb take a step forward. She raised her hand to still his protest, but he was not silenced.

  “A child under fourteen years of age has neither legal responsibility, nor any right to independent legal action. That means that the children cannot be sworn in as witnesses and given the same weight of authority in their statements as an adult. A fiadu, a witness, has to swear on oath and can only give evidence about what they have seen or heard. What does not take place before a witness’s eyes is invalid. We have heard some supposition in this case about what may or may not have happened. I have to tell you that this is not evidence in the strict sense. However, the law acknowledges that one can accept into judgment indications of guilt other than the direct evidence of an eyewitness, evidence such as the incriminating behavior of the one suspected of the offense.”

  Fidelma restrained her anger at his presumption.

  “I am well aware of the law in this matter,” she said tightly. “Had you also been qualified to bring a judgment. .” she paused to let her sharp words sink in, “. . then you might know that there is a precedent which gives me the authority to question the three children I have named.”

  Brother Corbb flushed and took an involuntary step backwards.

  “I was. .”

  “I do not know what leeway the Brehon Spélan gives you as his clerk. In my court there is only one judge. Remember that, Brother Corbb.” She then turned to the court. “There is a precedent where a young child’s testimony can be made without oath and can be accepted for consideration. The example given is of a stolen animal believed to have been eaten on the previous night, The child was asked, ‘What did you have to eat last night?’ and his reply was taken into consideration in proving the case against the suspect. I will give the reference to Brother Corbb here to enter it when he makes a record of this procedure. Are the children here?”

  “They are,” admitted Colla the wainwright, after some moments of delay.

  “Then bring Maine to sit beside me and let me speak with him.”

  A young boy, dragging reluctant feet, moved to the platform, and Brother Corbb produced a chair.

  Fidelma smiled at the child encouragingly.

  “Now, Maine, I understand that you had a shock when you found the body of poor Enda.”

  The boy nodded slowly.

  “Did you like him?”

  Maine looked surprised at the question and then gave it some consideration before responding.

  “He was all right,” he said dismissively. “He was my comaltae, my foster brother.”

  “Did you like having a foster brother?”

  “I have two sisters. It was good to have a comaltae.”

  “That’s natural,” agreed Fidelma. “Was Enda liked by everyone in your family. . your sisters, for example?”

  “My sisters don’t like boys anyway. That’s why I liked having a comaltae. My father’s apprentices were too old to have time for me. All they cared about was their work and soppy girls in the village when they went to dances. .dances! ” The boy shuddered as he gave expression to the word.

  “So only you were friends with Enda.”


  “I suppose so. He was two years younger than me.”

  “But you liked him?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “How did your parents treat him? No, don’t look at them, Maine. Look at me,” she added quickly when Colla and his wife started to rise from their seats. She glanced quickly at them and said: “You will both be silent while I am examining witnesses.” She turned back and repeated: “How did your parents treat him?”

  Maine shrugged.

  “My father didn’t have much to do with us, except when he was teaching us about carpentry and the like. Mother was always moaning about something. I don’t think Enda liked her but that’s just her way.”

  “She finds fault with all of you?”

  Maine shrugged.

  “More with Enda than me or my sisters.”

  “Now, when you found the body, I understand that you were all playing together that morning?”

  The boy kicked at the floor.

  “Because Faife said we should. She’s my eldest sister and. . well, you know what elder sisters are like.”

  Fidelma smiled softly.

  “Tell me.”

  “Bossy. You know.”

  “So you all went off to play because Faife told you to? What did you play?”

  “Hide and go seek. In the woods. It was boring, ’cos the girls are so easy to find. Enda finally became fed up and said he was going back to the house.”

  “But you stayed on?”

  “For a while. It was Faife’s turn to hide and it took a long time to find her. This time she hid herself well. Had it not been for the business of Enda, I think our mother would have been very angry with her.”

  “Angry? Why?”

  “I found her hiding under some bushes where it was wet and muddy. Her dress was in a terrible mess. Mother would have given her a good hiding had it not been. . well, you know.”

  “So what did you do then?”

  “Faife wanted another game but I was bored, like Enda. I decided to go to look for him.”

  “And that is when you found him in the pond?”

  The boy nodded quickly.

  “When I saw him in the middle of the pond, I ran off to find my father.”

  “Two more questions. How far was the pond from where you were playing your game?”

  The boy frowned.

  “Not very far.”

  “Did you know about the theft of the eggs?”

  Maine nodded quickly.

  “What did Enda say when he was accused of taking the eggs?”

  “He said he had not taken the eggs. That it was a story that had been made up by the girls ’cos they didn’t like him. Mother wanted father to wallop him good, but father said he couldn’t but would speak to Enda’s father when he could.”

  Fidelma dismissed him and called for Una to come forward.

  She was eight years old and nervous.

  “Did you like Enda?” Fidelma asked.

  “Not much. Boys are rough creatures. I don’t see why we had to have him living with us and he was. .”

  Fidelma examined her sharply.

  “He was-what?”

  “A thief. Mummy said so. Thieves are punished. That’s why he probably drowned in the pool. God probably drowned him. Mummy said so.”

  “But Enda denied he was the thief.”

  “He would, wouldn’t he? He’s a liar because mummy said so.”

  “And you always believe you mother?”

  “She’s my mother,” the girl replied with simplicity. Fidelma let her return to her seat.

  Faife was eleven years old, solemn, and trying to behave as a grown-up. When Fidelma posed her initially question the girl frowned in thought.

  “I did not dislike him.”

  “Not even when you discovered that he was a thief?”

  The girl sniffed.

  “I knew he had done wrong. I told my mother that he had stolen the eggs.”

  “Did he admit that he had stolen the eggs?”

  “I found him with the eggs. He could not deny it.”

  “Why would he steal eggs from the kitchen?”

  Faife frowned.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “He was living with your family and being fed by your family. What need had he of eggs?”

  She shrugged as if it was either not important or she did not care.

  “I can’t answer for him.”

  “What makes you so sure that he did steal the eggs?”

  “I said so, didn’t I?” A note of belligerence crept into her voice.

  “But how do you know?” pressed Fidelma, not put out by the girl’s tone.

  “Because I found him with the eggs.”

  “What happened?”

  The girl hesitated and then nodded quickly.

  “I went to where Enda slept sharing a room with my brother and my dad’s two apprentices.”

  “Why?” Fidelma’s voice interrupted sharply.

  There was no hesitation.

  “I went looking for Enda to come for the daily lesson my mother gave us in how to tell our letters.”

  “And?”

  “He was on his bed with the eggs. It is my job to go to the hen house and collect the eggs each morning. I had done so that morning and put them in the kitchen. He had stolen them from there.”

  “Did you ask him where the eggs came from?”

  The little girl chuckled.

  “He told me that he found them under his bed. Of course, no one believed him. Anyway, I said that I would take charge of them and return them.”

  “Did you do so?”

  “I was taking them back to the kitchen when my mother came. Enda had already scuttled off. My mother asked me what I was doing with the eggs and I had to tell the truth, ’cos that’s important, isn’t it?”

  Fidelma looked at the earnest expression on Faife’s face and sighed deeply.

  “What did your mother say?”

  “Mummy said that Enda would be in for a good beating when daddy returned.”

  “And was he?”

  Faife pouted, almost in disapproval.

  “Daddy said he was not allowed to touch Enda. We get hit when we do something wrong, why was it wrong to hit Enda?”

  “In what way do you get hit?”

  “Mummy usually hits us with a switch across the back of the legs.”

  “Go back to your place, Faife,” Fidelma said quietly. She paused for a moment. The law, according to her reading of it, was quite clear and did not only apply to foster children. Corporal punishment was prohibited against a child except for a single smack in anger with the palm of the hand. She wondered if she should make a point of this. She decided to leave it to judgment.

  “Is the neighbor whose honey was stolen here?” she demanded, when Faife returned to her seat.

  “It was my honey that was stolen.” A man with thin, sallow looks rose from his seat. His dress was of leather-patched woolen trousers, a short sleeve jacket and boots. “My name is Mel, lady. I am a neighbor of Colla and Dublemna.”

  “And you keep bees?”

  “Don’t worry,” grinned the man. “I know all about the Bechbretha, the law of bees, and I can assure you that I have given the necessary pledges to my four neighbors allowing them to have swarms from my hives to guarantee me immunity from any claim of trespass. However, as Colla had no wish to keep bees, I guaranteed him combs of honey from my hives in fair exchange. So I am aware of the law and I keep the law.”

  Fidelma regarded the farmer with a solemn look.

  “That is good. We have heard it suggested that you found that honeycombs were being removed from your hives?”

  “I can confirm it. I noticed the missing combs a few weeks ago and I went ’round to my neighbors to warn them that there might be a thief about. However, it was only one comb that went missing at a time and that only every few days. It seemed so petty. It was only a few days ago, after the boy-this boy Enda-drowned in the pool, that D
ublemna told me that they had found part of a honeycomb in his belongings. Of course, I would not prosecute my neighbors for what the boy had done, even though Colla had taken on this role as aite-foster father.”

  Fidelma heaved a long inward sigh as she dismissed the bee-keeper. She sat in thought for a while.

  “I am going to adjourn this case for an hour or so,” she suddenly announced. “I want to see where this death occurred so that I might fully understand the situation.”

  It took them just under an hour to reach Colla’s homestead. Fécho, Tassach, Niall and Colla, Dublemna and their children as well as Mel accompanied Sister Fidelma and Brother Corbb. The party, at Fidelma’s request, made straight for the pond where Enda had been found. A copse of alder trees obscured it from the homestead. They all halted at a respectable distance while Fidelma went forward to make her examination. It was as Colla had described it. Indeed, it did not take long to realize that with such gently sloping banks, it was beyond question that the boy could have fallen in by accident. She walked around the pond several times, scrutinizing the area in search of rocks, stones or anything else that could have made the wound described by Tassach and Niall.

  She turned and waved Maine forward.

  “I want you to show me where you were playing that morning,” she told him.

  The boy pointed to a section of larger woodland just beyond the copse.

  “Exactly where?” she pressed.

  The boy led her across to the woodland. It was not spacious between the trees and within a few meters one could be hidden along its paths. Fidelma noticed the ground was fairly hard and stony. There was an outcrop of boulders in one clearing. It was useless looking for the precise stone that came into contact with Enda’s head. Fidelma turned to the boy.

  “Just tell me again, Maine, because I would like to be absolutely sure ofthis. . when you were playing here and Enda became bored with the game. He left.”

  The boy nodded.

  “And you all continued to play until you became bored and went off after him?”

  “We did so.”

  “Any idea of how long this was?” She did not ask with any hope, knowing that children really had no conception of the same sense of time as adults.

  “I think it was a long time. Long enough for Faife to insist we play another game of hide and go seek. And I know that she was a long time being found. That’s when I became fed up. Una thought that Faife had gone home for I was the seeker and I easily found Una. Then we both sought for Faife.”